A political convention like no other

This is my seventh US political convention and I have never seen anything quite like this.

I've never heard a speaker booed on the stage or a party this beset by internal strife or a wing of a party drag the rest out to the fringes of political respectability. It's stunning and begs the question: Are we watching the death throes of the Republican Party?

It's normal for conventions to spend time attacking the nominee of the other party. And in some recent conventions the tone of those attacks has become more personal. In 2004 Democrats were really angry with President George W Bush and the Iraq war. In 2012 Republicans clearly hated the way President Barack Obama had expanded the role of American government. But even then it didn't feel like this.

I honestly don't know if it's because Mrs Clinton is a woman. It may be because she's been around as a political figure for so long or because her email server makes her look like she thinks she's above the law but the hatred of her here is vicious and visceral. This has become the "lock her up" convention. Ask individual delegates about Mrs Clinton and they get a glint in their eye - she's "evil", a "liar", "dangerous."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's mock prosecution whipped up a crowd that was willing to be pulled into the fringes of political acceptability. Think what you will of Mrs Clinton as a potential president, there's a nasty mood here when it comes to her. You see it in the slogans, the T-shirts, the buttons and the speeches.

FOX has been brewing this irrationality for years. Democrats have allowed Republicans in Congress to use the power of the office for political purposes. The Right has totally lost the ability to see that they are being lied to and manipulated and maybe even worse, it is all theatre to distract from the fact that it has been the Republican Party that has passed the legislation that wiped out the middle class income and assets. This month Republicans tried to block Obama's executive order requiring investment advisors dealing in retirement funds to put the interests of the client above their own profit motive. How evil is that? Dems have made some mistakes, too, but usually attempting to compromise with Republicans over even worse legislation. And now the Repukes are fomenting mass hysteria. Not the first time in history that ruthless demagoguery was used to grab power.

He will protect you. He will fix your aching bones and your bad hearing and when you walk home at night you will know that nothing can harm you, because Trump is there. You will get a good-paying job. The thing in the shadows that frightens you will melt away as if it were never real to begin with. (And perhaps it wasn’t.)

I don't think that there will be party unity at the DNC either. There are people that are tired of establishment politics on both sides of the aisle. You see this kind of stuff here....you see it in France and you are seeing it in the UK. Some of it is misdirected.

Their ramping up on Hillary is nothing more than their back of the bus transfer from Obama. Even though I voted Bernie in the primary, I'm actually somewhat relieved that Clinton won because given this environment, I was pretty sure that all the hate against our black president would have been piled onto the nice Jewish guy. And what if a Trump would have arisen after four or eight years of Fox & Co spewing anti-Semitic.

Would Sanders have more readily defeated Trump? Maybe so. But what might have come after had all that hate been directed onto my buddy Bernie. What if things fucked up during his presidency even if out of his control? Then nothing would have stopped a Trump. Not a Bernie, not a Hillary. This country could have gone where the founders feared. So my feeling is that Hillary will help to take some of the air out of these bellows from hell. She's not as liberal as I prefer but she's a real smart lady who can gauge the feel of the nation and help move it off that right-wing cliff that the Republicans have dragged us to.

It's vastly more likely that there will be total party unity at the Democratic convention after last night.Trump's ugly and pathetic scare-tactic-laden acceptance speech helped immensely to unite the Democrats.The last few Bernie supporting hold-outs saw how godawful Trump is and are coming home to the Democratic Party.

In fact - with Cruz refusing to endorse Trump and signaling to his followers NOT to support Trump - the Repub convention did more to unite the Democratic Party than it did to unite the Repubs.

And Trump could hardly have done more last night to repel Latino voters and guarantee that Latino voters will again vote overwhelmingly for Hillary.

Trump's speech and the convention overall were disastrous for the GOP.

Their ramping up on Hillary is nothing more than their back of the bus transfer from Obama. Even though I voted Bernie in the primary, I'm actually somewhat relieved that Clinton won because given this environment, I was pretty sure that all the hate against our black president would have been piled onto the nice Jewish guy. And what if a Trump would have arisen after four or eight years of Fox & Co spewing anti-Semitic.

Would Sanders have more readily defeated Trump? Maybe so. But what might have come after had all that hate been directed onto my buddy Bernie. What if things fucked up during his presidency even if out of his control? Then nothing would have stopped a Trump. Not a Bernie, not a Hillary. This country could have gone where the founders feared. So my feeling is that Hillary will help to take some of the air out of these bellows from hell. She's not as liberal as I prefer but she's a real smart lady who can gauge the feel of the nation and help move it off that right-wing cliff that the Republicans have dragged us to.

Huh.Mixing yellow and blue makes green.50 cents is not a dollar.Obama has a white mother and black father so Obama is mixed race.

Looks as though Trumps entire campaign is a controlled opposition in Hillarys favor, much like Bernie's. Between Melania's plagiarized speech and Cruz's refusal to endorse Trump, it was a shit show that made the Republican Party look as tragic as ever. I didn't see it as a coincidence.

BP201 saidLooks as though Trumps entire campaign is a controlled opposition in Hillarys favor, much like Bernie's. Between Melania's plagiarized speech and Cruz's refusal to endorse Trump, it was a shit show that made the Republican Party look as tragic as ever. I didn't see it as a coincidence.

Indeed, quite a car crash, especially when you compare it with the GOP coronations of old. Poor old Ronnie must be spinning.

Judging by a whole array of factors, one cannot help but conclude this was the least successful convention since the Pat Buchanan-dominated 1992 shindig that became the staging ground for another round in the culture wars.

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.

The_Polaris saidIt's vastly more likely that there will be total party unity at the Democratic convention after last night.Trump's ugly and pathetic scare-tactic-laden acceptance speech helped immensely to unite the Democrats.The last few Bernie supporting hold-outs saw how godawful Trump is and are coming home to the Democratic Party.

In fact - with Cruz refusing to endorse Trump and signaling to his followers NOT to support Trump - the Repub convention did more to unite the Democratic Party than it did to unite the Repubs.

And Trump could hardly have done more last night to repel Latino voters and guarantee that Latino voters will again vote overwhelmingly for Hillary.

Trump's speech and the convention overall were disastrous for the GOP.

Living in your dream world again bunk. The democrats are going to be so splintered and polarized that it will be total chaos in Philadelphia. If Trump repelled so many Hispanic voters, how come there are significant numbers that strongly support him. It is the Hispanics that are in the US illegally that overwhelmingly support this power hungry, incompetent bitch along with blind imbeciles like yourself. You keep living in your fantasyland about Hillary winning in November because the Donald is going to verbally rip her to pieces by exposing her lies, broken promises, criminal behavior, and her horrendous incompetence throughout her lousy to mediocre political career.